Sunil Sharma Sentenced in Multi-Million Dollar Investment Scheme

Sunil Sharma, of Carlsbad, California, was sentenced in federal court on September 14, 2015 to 33 months in custody. Sunil Sharma admitted to running a multi-million dollar investment scheme which defrauded local investors by falsely claiming that their funds were safely placed in conservative investments. However, Sharma admitted to pursuing a risky day-trading strategy that ultimately turned into a massive Ponzi scheme.

Sunil Sharma, admitted that he orchestrated his fraud through stock options schemes with his companies Gold Coast Holding and Safe Harbor Tax Lien Acquisitions. Sharma further admitted that he covered up his massive trading losses by continuing to falsely tell investors that their investments were doing well. For example, Sharma sent investors monthly or quarterly statements that falsely reflected that their investments were generating the promised returns.

Sharma Admitted to Running a Ponzi Scheme

In 2007, Sharma set up Gold Coast Holding, LLC (“Gold Coast”) as a vehicle to trade options. He falsely told his insurance clients that they could make better returns if he could “day trade” their money. Sharma recognized that his customers would not give him money for risky options trading. Sharma admitted that he lied to them and falsely stated that Gold Coast was an extremely safe way to earn a monthly retirement.

Sharma admittedly turned Gold Coast into a classic “Ponzi scheme” by paying earlier investors their guaranteed rates of return with new funds solicited from later investors. By using his company Gold Coast (and later a second company he established, Safe Harbor Tax Lien Acquisitions), Sharma exclusively used the money for day trading options. Sharma admittedly ran a Ponzi scheme, whereby he collected investments after allegedly making misleading statements to investors including false valuation statements. Sharma admitted to diverting approximately $2.5 million in investor funds for his own personal use for the down-payment on a home, a lavish vacation, and the lease of two luxury vehicles. By January 2015, the investment scheme collapsed completely.

Investor Rights Lawyers Investigating

The Peiffer Rosca Wolf investor rights attorneys often represent investors who lose money as a result of alleged investment schemes. They are currently investigating Sunil Sharma. They take most cases of this type on a contingency fee basis and advance the case costs, and only get paid for their fees and costs out of money they recover for their clients.

Investors who believe they lost money as a result of Sunil Sharma for allegedly operating a fraudulent investment scheme may contact the investor rights attorneys at Peiffer Rosca Wolf, Alan Rosca or Joe Peiffer, for a free no-obligation evaluation of their recovery options, at 888-998-0520.

Alan is a securities lawyer. He also teaches Securities Regulation at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. He focuses his legal practice on complex commercial and financial litigation and arbitration, particularly in the areas of securities and investment fraud. His office is in Cleveland, Ohio.

In our legal system, every person is innocent until and unless found guilty by a court of law or a tribunal. Whenever we reference “allegations” or charges that are “alleged,” such allegations or charges have not been proven, and are merely accusations, not findings of fault, as of the date of the blog. We do not have, nor do we undertake, a duty to continue to monitor or follow cases about which we report, and/or to publish subsequent blogs regarding various developments that may occur in such cases. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research regarding any such cases and any developments that may or may not have occurred in such cases.

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